Aircraft gas turbine engines are normally subjected to at least one “pass-off” operational test, after production and before they are shipped, to ensure proper operation of each engine. The pass-off test is typically conducted within a test cell with the engine heavily instrumented to measure and record relevant parameters. Accordingly, each engine must be prepared or “dressed” with the necessary test equipment, such as accessories (e.g. starter motor), instruments (e.g. sensors) and services (e.g. fuel, oil supplies) that are required for the testing and operation of the engine within the test cell. Once the pass-off test is completed, the engine must then be “undressed” before it is packaged and shipped.
Dressing the engine is a time-consuming and a labor-intensive activity, due to the sheer magnitude of instruments used in testing and the sensitivity of those instruments to shock and mishandling. An operator locates, assembles and connects to the engine the specific test equipment, such as accessories, instruments and services that are required for testing the particular model of engine. This process is a significant source of downtime for the test cell and requires a significant amount of material handling and storage. It is also prone to operator error. Improvement is needed.